COOKE Automotive, in Bowerhill, took home the ‘fastest business cart’ trophy at the Chippenham Soap Box Derby last month in their handmade ‘Cookie Monster’ cart.
Chippenham streets became a race track on Sunday 1st September in the third annual Soap Box Derby, that saw over 30 teams take to the course in their handmade non-motorised soap box carts.
Cooke Automotive entered the event for the first time after seeing it advertised on social media.
Tim Jones, employee at the garage said, “We thought it would be a great opportunity for some team bonding! It took us around three months, on and off, to build our cart. As Chris Cooke, the owner of the garage, has the nickname of Cookie, we thought the best idea was to create a Cookie Monster-themed cart.
“We all worked really well as a team. We used old parts of cars that were lying around the garage. The chassis is made from an old tyre rack and the barrel made from an old anti-freeze barrel.
“The initial event in May was cancelled due to the rain, so it was great that they were able to reschedule it so quickly.”
On the day, the team featured employees Jay Brunn, Jacob Selina, Nathan Sheppard, Chris Cooke, Jenny Newman, Steve Pearce and Emma Trevor.
Jay Brunn added, “It was really good on the day! We all had at least two runs each on the course which was more than we were expecting but a few teams had to drop out, which was a bit of a let down.
“Winning fastest business cart was a great result, even though we did want a bit of a steeper hill to gain more speed! Hopefully it is the first of many more trophies to come, as we will look to enter more competitions like this.
“Tim Jones was also supposed to join us on the day, but he was away on a cruise. However, he was live on whatsapp and we delivered him the news of us winning live too.
“Another team in Melksham, at the Avon, recently won the Redbull Soap Box Derby so we will definitely pay them a visit for a few hints and tips!
“A big thank you to our customers for the support and to Chippenham Bid for hosting the event. We look forward to fine-tuning the cart ready for next year’s event!”
Owner Chris Cooke added, “It would be great if Melksham could host an event like this, it certainly would get the crowds lining the streets and give us another opportunity to show what the Cookie Monster can do!”
Pictured: L-R Chris Cooke, Steve Pearce, Jacob Selina, Emma Trevor, Jenny Newman, Nathan Sheppard, Tim Jones, and Jay Brunn sat in the Cookie Monster cart.
